


Lectures in Positive Parenting

by biggod



Series: Exponential Growth, As Observed in the Nadir-Barnes Family [2]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Jeff Winger Has Issues, M/M, Troy and Abed in the Morning, late night winger speeches, trobaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biggod/pseuds/biggod
Summary: Parenting is overwhelming sometimes; Troy and Abed in the Morning (Nights) gets a special guest.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: Exponential Growth, As Observed in the Nadir-Barnes Family [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981298
Comments: 11
Kudos: 89





	Lectures in Positive Parenting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ivyaugust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivyaugust/gifts).



> this is, once again, very short and barely edited, but this one's for you, server.
> 
> special shoutout to jules, whom i love <3

Jeff is sleeping soundly when his phone begins to vibrate on the dresser. He blinks blearily at it, reaching out for it with a heavy arm. He misses the first couple of tries, eyelids slipping low without his consent, but finally grabs it on the third try.

He squints at the too-bright screen. _Troy N-B. 5:52am._

“Hello?” The word comes out scratchy and confused.

_“Looks like we’ve got Jeff W. back on the line tonight. What can we help you with tonight, Jeff?”_

Jeff stares at the ceiling dully for a moment, waiting for his tired brain to process what Troy’s just said.

“... _Troy_ ,” he groans, “Do you know how _fucking early_ it is? Why are you even awake?”

_“Good radio never sleeps. Tell me- tell us more about what you’re going through, Jeff.”_

The slip may have given Jeff pause were he not steadily growing irritated. He feels his body waking up, which means he’ll struggle to get back to sleep on his own. He’s starting to regret going sober.

“Tell you about-- go to bed, Troy, jesus christ.”

He’s pulling the phone away to hang up when he hears Troy faintly from the speaker.

“Wait-- Jeff, wait, please.”

It’s not his host voice, it’s his own, and he sounds about as lost as Jeff feels. He sighs, returning the phone to his ear.

“What?” he asks shortly, resigning himself to the waking world.

The line is silent for a moment, but he can tell Troy is there, hesitating.

“Check your texts,” he says eventually, just as Jeff’s phone buzzes against his cheek.

Jeff has to turn the brightness down on his phone before he can stand to look at anything. He taps on the text message from Troy, and it’s a photo - the dim nursery in their home in Los Angeles, lit only by a nightlight. Abed sits in the chair in the corner, sound asleep in his worn green pajamas, legs tucked beneath him, head tilted against the corner of the chair. Their daughter sleeps in his arms, her baby cheek squished against his chest, mouth open and fist clutching Abed’s sleeve. It’s objectively adorable, and were Jeff not at a disadvantage from exhaustion he probably would’ve rolled his eyes and feigned an unaffected attitude.

“Aww,” escapes him instead, and he curses himself.

Troy doesn’t react, though - a moment passes, and Jeff hears a sniffle on the other end of the line.

“Troy?” he asks carefully, and Troy lets out a shaky sigh.

_“I have… there’s so_ much, _Jeff,”_ he says. _“She’s already growing so fast, and I don’t know if anything we’re doing is right. Neither of us really know what a happy childhood is supposed to look like, so how do we know if we’re giving her one? I don’t want to mess this up. And then I look at them both like this and there’s so much love and- and terror and excitement, and I don’t know what to do with it all. It’s so much.”_

Jeff sits up slowly.

“Troy, I’m only going to admit to this one time, so listen closely. You know how I… ugh. Cried at your wedding?”

_“Yeah.”_ Troy sounds like he’s smiling, but not at Jeff’s expense, so he soldiers on.

“You were there when I got drunk at Shirley’s second wedding. You know how I’ve always felt.” Jeff rubs his hand over his eyes wearily.

_“You thought we weren’t gonna make it?”_ Troy’s voice wobbles.

“No, that’s- that’s not it.” Jeff pinches the bridge of his nose, willing his brain to wake up. He suppresses a sigh. “I had never thought marriages had a chance, _until_ yours. If anyone can make it work, it’s you and Abed.”

_“Okay,”_ Troy says slowly.

“That extends to your kid, too.”

_“Oh.”_

“Listen, I couldn’t tell you how to be a good dad. I don’t have the slightest idea, and I couldn’t do it myself if I tried. But I do know a bad dad when I see one, and you and Abed, you aren’t even close. You’re going to get some things right and some things wrong, and you’re going to stick with her and love her more than anyone in the world, and that makes all the difference.”

The line is quiet and muffled, like Troy has his hand over the speaker; Jeff knows this means he’s crying. Jeff gives him a moment.

_“Thanks, Winger,”_ he says eventually, with a sniffle.

“Sure. Now go back to fucking bed.”

_“Hey, Jeff?”_

“Hmm?”

_“Don’t sell yourself short on the dad thing. You’re a good person. You’d be good at it.”_

Later on, Jeff will pretend that his eyes were burning because of exhaustion.

“Good night, Troy,” he says softly.

_“Night, Jeff,”_ Troy replies.

Two days later, Jeff gets a text: a photo of Troy, giving the camera a thumbs up, baby laughing in his lap. She’s staring at him like he’s the whole world.

_You’ve got this,_ Jeff replies.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @nadir-barnes.


End file.
